Janeâs Illinois Garden - FineGardening
Jane is sharing her northern Illinois garden with us today.
This year the weather has been favorable for my plants to flourish, with periodic rain and warmth despite the windy conditions in northern Illinois.
The show started with lots of bulbs as the garden woke up. You can see the weigela (Weigela florida, Zones 5â9) is still not leafed out in the background.
My flowering almond (Prunus glandulosa, Zones 4â8) was pretty this year. And behind it the weigela is now awake and putting out leaves, though itâs still not in flower yet.
Then came the iris show. These old-fashioned bearded irises (Iris hybrid, bearded group, Zones 3â8) are vigorous and beautiful.
More irises fill out this bed, with the smaller-flowered Siberian irises (Iris siberica, Zones 4â8) joining the beardeds. A clump of salvia (Salvia nemorosa, Zones 4â8) echoes the purple colors of the irises.
Soon the back bed began to fill in with shade plants, including hosta (Hosta hybrids, Zones 4â9), bleeding heart (Digitalis spectabilis, Zones 2â8), astilbe (Astilbe species, Zones 4â9), and Japanese painted ferns (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum, Zones 5â8). And my âSun Kingâ aralia (Aralia cordata âSun Kingâ, Zones 3â9) takes center stage.
Now the goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus, Zones 4â8) is showing off along our deck. It has grown quite large in the seven years itâs been there.
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